Feeder.



PATBNTND JAN.15 1 ov. E. VALLBNTINE. 9

FEEDER APPLIOATlON FILED SEPT, l 1, 1905.

A .Q1/Wenko@ 50am/ ML, 7 uw abme/13A F11-NL E and described, because any other may be substituted or' such means can be dispensed with altogether.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like letters designate like parts, it will be ob-l served that a chute is represented at A and a tumbler at B, the former being inclined up-y.

chute before the selector is reached. Suite able sup orts,dpresently to be described, are provide to a justably hold the chute and tumbler in the positions just noted.

The chute A comprises a bottom lian'ge or runway b and an upper flange c. About midway between the ends of the chute the flange c commences to o en up, from which point it gradually unfol s until near the upper end, where for some distance the flange changes sha e altogether and becomes a part of the strai somewhere-between the ends of the c ute, but within the tumbler B, a lin er -or selector d lises from the runwa b an curves over until its up, ler end is cose to orin contact with theside of the chute. Behind the base ef the selector d a portion :of the rising part or side of the Harige or runway b is cutY away nearly or quite down to the bottom of said runway to form van opening e. Back of the open-ing e the runway -'b continues to theinner end of the chute, being bent outward more or less as desired- The shape of the 'chute and the form of the selector will vary according to the use 'to 'which said chute is to be put, it not being essential that the exact shape and form shown. be adhered to; but in any event the same general features will be maintained.

On the inside of the tumbler B is a plurality of projectionsf, four in the present casebut there may be more or .less than 'that num r. Each of these projections extends inward from the side ofthe tumbler and from a point intermediate ofthe endsof said tumbler to the back a. The `arranger-nent of parts is such that as each projectionfis carried 'by the revolving tumbler through 'the upper right-hand quadrant of the space within said tumbler said .projection passes over the inner terminal of the chute A. Objects placed loosely in the revolving tumbler will always have a tendency to work toward the back a, owingr to the tilted condition of said tumbler and to the motion imparted thereto,

t side of the chute. At a oint.

and a portion of such objects will be taken up by each projection as it ascends and will slide off of the same soon after it passesinto the upper righ t-hand q uadrantj, the arrow in Fig. l denoting the directionlof rotation, In order to prevent objects in the tumbler from escaping through the front end thereof, an inturned flange g may be provided aroundthe mouth of the tumbler.

The chute A is rigidly fastened to the ball of a universal joint h on top of afshank i. Said shank has its lower terminal fitted to move up and down in an upright or pedestal j, a hand-wheel set-screw c beingV employed to retain the shank with its joint and the attached chute at'the desired elevation. The support just described enables me easily and quickly toladj ust the chuteatany height and angle desired.

A shaft l, having the same axis as that of the tumbler B, extends rearwardly from the back a, to which it is secured at one end. Said shaft is journaled in a bearing m, from the bottom of'which an-arm n depends'. arm u is pivot-ed at o to 'an upright or pedestal p and is so mounted thereon that it canl be eld in place or released through the medium of a hand-wheel q on one end of the bolt or pivot o. This adjustable support for the tumbler permits the samejto be readilypositioned at any required angle to the horizon. These adjustments of, me `chu-te and tumbler are needed soas to beable to bring the inner terminal of 'the former and the projections in the latter into exactly the proper relation to each other. l g

Means for adjusting the chute -or the tunibler, or both, toward and away-from the other or each other may be provided; but it is not thought suc-h provision usual-ly be necessary.

The pedestals and p arejjhere shown as being bolted to the floor; vand of course the position of either can` bechanged without much difficulty should occasion require. r

A grooved pulley'fa is keyed or otherwise made fast on the rear terminal of the shaft l and belted to any suitable "driving-motor. Thepulley r when revolvedlfcauses the tumbler to revolve. The 'groove in the pulley r should be quite deep to accommodate the driving belt (not shown) to the angle at which said pulley stands.

The

IOW

[IOV

In practice after the membershave been side of said chute so that it will-encounter the selector d; but when vuch-disk part comes next to the side ofthe c ute, asshown in Fig. 3, the button can and does pass said selector and roll freely down the chute. With the tumbler revolving in the direction indicated each projection j" as it Lascends at the right carries up with it and upon it a portion of the buttons in said tumbler to deliver to the chute, such delivery being effected merely by gravity, the buttons slipping off of the projection at the time the latter arrives at a position where its downward inclination is so great that said buttons can no longer remain thereon, Ebut must slide off, some dropping into the ,inner terminal of the chute and others falling to the bottom of the tumbler.

The buttons that are' caught by the inner ter.-

minal of the chute are in position to roll down, which they' immediately proceed to do until the selector (l is reached, when the buttons standing as shown in Fig. 3 pass on -and escape at the lower end of the chute, while those standing as shown in Fig. 4 are turned out of their cfourse by said selector, roll or fall oft of the runway b through the opening e, and

drop back into the tumbler. The projections f present practically a constant stream of buttons to the chute, those which are re` jected ,by the selector quickly moving down toward the rear in the tumbler until they are again in the path of the projections, which take them up and give them another trial and as many trials as may be necessary to finally dispose of them. The buttons which fail to lodge in the chute are also taken up by the projections and discharged over or into the chute as oftenas may be required,

It will now be seen that without rotating the tumbler with so much velocity as to interfere in any way with the proper operation of the machine a steady stream or constant procession of buttons can be kept coming from the discharge end'offthe chute, the buttons allstanding with their protuberances on the same side. The machine will continue to deliver buttons until the last one in the tumbler has been properly presented to the selector d and has emerged from the chute.

By employing projections or lbuckets of different' shapes the location of the inner terminal of the chute relativetosuch projecl tions or buckets can be changed considerl ably.

In addition to the structural and other changes, alterations, and rearrangements hereinbefore pointed out others'will occur tov one skilled in the art, and all such I desire to include within the scope of my claims.

YWhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A chute", for a feeder, comprising a run'- way along the lower edge, such runway ccnsisting in part of an upwardly-extending flange, and a finger or selector rising from said flange at a point remote from either end of the chute and projecting across the passage in the chute, the upper terminal of said selector being contiguous to the side wall of the chute.

2. A chute, for a feeder, comprising a run-A way along the lower edge, such runway consisting in part of an upwardly-extending iiange, and a finger or selector rising from said flange at a point remote from either'end of the chute and projecting across the pas# sage in the chute, a portion of the flange back of the base of said selector being cut away so` as to form a side opening in the runway but leaving the bottom of the runway intact.

3. The combination, in a feeder, with a stationary vchute provided with a selector lying across the passage therein but ndt entirely obstructing the same, such selector be- .ing adapted to bar said passage to some objects and to afford no obstruction to others, which latter are ermitted to ass between the side of said c ute and sai selector, ac-

cording to the positions of the objects in the l chute, of adjustable meansof support for the chute.

4. The combination, in a feeder, with a rotary tumbler inclined axially downward'frorn front to rear and provided with internal rojections, of a chute inclined to the horlzon .and having its highest and receiving terminal tilted laterally and locatedxwithin said tumbler. j V `5. The combination, in a feeder, with a rotumbler inclined axially andprovided internal projections, yof an inclined chute having its higher terminal* located within said tumbler and provided-with a selector also located within the tumbler and lying across the passage in such chute but not entirely obstructing such assag'e, such selector being adapted to bar t e passage to some objects. and to adord no obstruction to others,'which latter are ermitted to pass between the side of the ciute and said selecin said chute, the objects being delivered to the chute from the tumbler through the mev dium of said projections therein.'

6. In a feeder, the combination of a rotating lifting device having an inwardly-projecting member to lift the articles being fed, said lifting device being inclined downwardly at its rear end, an adjustable support for the loo IIO

lifting device, and a chute projecting into such device and with its inner terminal arranged to receive the articles being fed as they fall from said inwardly-projecting member.

7. The combination, in a feeder, with a rota tumbler inclined axiall and provided wit internal projections of less length than said tumbler, of an inclined chute havin its higher 'terminal located within the tumler and provided with a selector situated within and adjacent to parts of the tumbler which are clear of said projections and lying across the passage in such chute but not entirely obstructing such passage, such selectorl being adapted to bar the passage to some objects IZO and to afford 11o `obstruction to others, which In testimony whereof I have signed my .latter ,are permitted to pass between the side name to this specification in the presence of y0f the .chute and said selector, according to two subsoribin witnesses.

thegpositions ofthe objects in the chute, the EDWARD VALLENTINE.

5 objects being delivered to the chute from the Witnesses:

tumbler through the medium of the projeo- ALLEN WEBSTER, tions therein. F. A. CUTTER. 

